Oh, so that's what they've been up to

CalgaryGrit doesn't mince words on its dim view of the diverse consortium of folks who this week called for an initiative not wholly dissimilar to the Grits' Green Shift, in a petition signed by Joe Clark, John Turner, Kim Campbell and Paul Martin.

CalgaryGrit takes an early lead in our Campaign Headline contest with the label, "The League of Below Average Prime Ministers Endorses Green Shift."

(Hat tip to Andrew Coyne.)

Green blues

If the Grits' centrepiece Green Shift carbon-tax proposal really would "wreak havoc on Canada's economy, destroy jobs, [and] weaken business at a time of global uncertainty," as Stephen Harper charged yesterday,

• Sweden wouldn't have adopted a carbon-tax regime
• Neither would B.C., whose popular program closely mirrors the Green Shift plan
• Nor would Stephane Dion, former cabinet minister in a Liberal government that presided over most of the past decade of successive budget surplus unmatched among G-8 nations

Alas for the Grits, the Green Shift hasn't resonated with Canadians because,

• The environment has slipped among Canadians' top priorities to third, trailing the economy and healthcare, as the Canadian economy has weakened
• The Grits did a poor job of promoting the Green Shift since its unveiling in the spring
• In the hectic pre-election period, Dion caved to caucus pressure and diluted the plan with so many exemptions it's now difficult to sell the Green Shift as a bold initiative

The Green Shift also looks to me like a stealth wealth-redistribution scheme, given that much of the proceeds from the new carbon taxes are dedicated to tax relief and income supports for low-income Canadians. That may or may not be a laudable goal, depending on your politics, but it further muddies the exact purpose of the Green Shift proposal.

Globe and Mail reporter Tu Thanh Ha has a useful comparison chart of the Swedish, B.C. and Green Shift elements. 

"I like the Green Shift, and prefer it over cap-and-trade [the NDP's proposed alternative]," economist Dale Orr of Global Insight (Canada) tells The Big Picture. "But I would have preferred that the proceeds be targeted at R&D into alternative fuels and other environmental advances, to be consistent with the proposal's ostensible purpose."